John Harrison Wilson, The life of Charles Henry Dana

[215] in less than a fortnight, when it had been promised in three clays, and it turned out as I had predicted. The fact is that he soon came to the opinion that the various canal and cut-off projects would prove to be of little value, if not entirely impracticable, because of the varying stages of water in the river which must necessarily supply them all. He held that the great river itself would prove to be our best line of communication, because it could neither be cut, nor obstructed, nor be made impassable by any fire the enemy could concentrate upon it by night, and this judgment, based upon experience elsewhere, turned out to be entirely correct. Dana therefore gave his hearty approval to the project of ignoring the canals and running directly by the city, and as opportunity offered did not hesitate to advocate it with General Grant. It is to be observed, however, that he did not go out of the way in his despatches to argue the case with the Secretary of War, but contented himself with mentioning plans in a general way, and with describing events as they actually took place. In all this he made no pretention whatever to technical military knowledge or experience, but relying mainly upon that of others, and upon his own commonsense, had the good-fortune of finding himself rarely ever mistaken.

He was present with General Grant, his family and staff, on board the boat occupied as headquarters on the night of April 16, 1863, when the squadron of gun-boats, transports, and barges cut loose from its moorings at the mouth of the Yazoo, and, turning out into the stream without lights or noise, floated rapidly around the great bend into the narrow but swiftly flowing current in front of the town. It was a memorable scene. Silence and darkness brooded over it so thoroughly that it seemed for nearly an hour as though the fleet would not be discovered, and would be permitted to pass by without receiving a single shot from